This was supposed to be the presidential election in which those hip souls who dwell in the cybersphere would revolutionize politics, and a gargantuan army of draft-wary young people would really rock the vote.

These and other axioms were embraced by many as articles of faith going into Election 2004.

Hopeful Democrats also believed that President Bush would find reelection impossible because so many Americans disapproved of his performance, thought the country was headed in exactly the wrong direction, and knew they were worse off in almost every imaginable way than they were four years ago.

Bush's opposition was convinced that African Americans, embittered by their disenfranchisement in 2000, would turn out to vote as never before, and that nearly every Latino voter would remain faithful to the Democratic Party. The opposition was sure that a yawning gender gap would give nominee John Kerry an overwhelming edge among women voters, that he could win without carrying a single Southern state, and that 11th hour campaigning by ex- President Bill Clinton would turbo-charge the Kerry-Edwards ticket's chance for victory.

Most of all, Bush opponents perceived that the quicksand of Iraq, which more and more Americans regarded with a sense of impending doom, would morph into the campaign's overriding issue and ensure the president's undoing.

A curious thing happened on the way to the polls, however: all those fond beliefs proved to be mere myths. The demonized George W. Bush got the White House. The Democrats just got it wrong.

A generation ago, the South represented just a fourth of the Electoral College votes. It's grown. Today it's almost a third. That transformation prompted the turncoat Democrat, Georgia Sen. Zell Miller....

Hopefully people who came out to vote in this election will not fall back into their old ways and neglect to vote. Maybe this election gave them the patriot bug and they see that their votes counts and is vital to America.

The fact is that the voters did not buy the lies of the Dimwitocrats about the wrong direction, and demostrated that we want to continue in the direction that Bush wants and is taking us in!

I heard a pollster on C-Span say that those who said the country was heading in the wrong direction actually voted for Bush. Normally we think of the "wrong direction" question as an indictment of the incumbent and, hence, a vote against him. In this case, as it turns out, voters who thought we are headed in the wrong direction believe the Dems are the cause and Bush can help solve the problem. Interesting

That right/wrong direction didnt make sense in some of the red states where Bush had a good approval rating (55% or higher) but right track/wrong track was about even. I think thats what Zogby did in respect to his polling thinking that the country would go solidy for Kerry. Cant believe anyone would subscribe to this guy anymore...

The right track/wrong track question is too simplistic and the Lefties interpreted it incorrectly. A large majority of people who think we ae on the wrong track want Mr. Bush to be TOUGHER and MORE CONSERVATIVE, rather than the reverse.

Perhaps we need a new Studs Terkel to go out and talk to Red America and maybe more important, LISTEN to them. We need an accurate compilation of what we really think.

I approve of the job Bush is doing, given what he has to work with - obstructionists like Daschle, etc. However, the country is going in the wrong direction because conservative principles have not been followed - prescription drugd, the farm bill, etc. I have a feeling I am not alone in that sentiment. And the MSM can't figure that out? Right.

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